My Home Office Makeover

And, after many months of slooow progress, my home office makeover is finally complete.  To gain a full appreciation of how it ended up, here's what it looked like when I started:

It had inevitably become "that room" after we moved in where we threw all of the stuff we weren't using elsewhere.  When I decided to get serious about my design business last fall, I knew this was no place to get inspired.  So, I went to work creating a home office--on a budget, of course.  The result:

 

I started by painting the walls Trout Gray by Benjamin Moore.  I offset the dark color by using modern, white furniture.  The one exception (and my favorite piece) was a campaign-style dresser that I found at a second-hand furniture warehouse and painted kelly green. 

I (somewhat) patiently waited until it became available again and ordered the white desk from Overstock (a knock-off of the popular West Elm version at a fraction of the cost) and the bookshelves are from IKEA's Expedit series.

 

To give the bookshelves some height, I bought this old frame for $5 and sprayed it white:

Both chairs were also a steal.  The gold one in the corner was part of a pair I found on Craigslist (pillow is from Ross).  My desk chair was a $10 yard sale find.  After everything else was in place, I decided to brighten things up with my window treatments.  My aunt made the panels for me; the fabric is Covington "Wilmington."

I had originally planned to paint this chair but decided I liked the "distressed" finish afterall.  I think a good mix of old with new and sleek with curvy makes for a more interesting overall look. 

You may remember my $10 lamp project (base was found at Goodwill):

To make the space feel more personal, I created a gallery wall with some of my favorite photos (and a mirror from HomeGoods):

And, there you have it.  Home office complete!